Milled

Matthew Boulton’s 1799  and  1780 quick and cheap production and distribution of 42 million halfpennies and 4.2 million farthings  effectively resolved a serious longstanding counterfeit problem for those coins. The Peck,  KH16  coins provide one example of “Pattern” Early Soho coins which might well have been produced for the  nascent “commemorative” coin market.

The high relief young head portrait of Victoria, combined with die clashing (when the blank feeder missed a blank), resulted in a high die failure rate through the middle of the reign. During the die numbering period (1864-1879) the obverse dies outnumber the reverse dies by about 50%. During 1867 a new obverse die (Davies obv. 5) was briefly introduced. This is in slightly lower relief than the previous portrait (obv. 4). A new reverse die (Davies rev. B) was also cut. The brevity of these issues suggests they were trials, identified by a small pellet above the die number. Following the trials, the stock of earlier 4B dies were used up for the remainder of the year. Starting in 1868 the new 5B dies would be used on the shillings until 1879. This note presents a complete illustrated set of known die combinations and die numbers, allowing the trials of the 5Bs to be seen in the context of

read more A Die Study of Victorian Shillings Dated 1867 – Gary Oddie

In April 1879 the death of T.J. Minton, the engraver responsible for finishing the dies (and adding the die numbers), coincided with and possibly precipitated the end of the use of die numbers. The die numbered shillings of this date are found with two different Obverses (P.J. Davies Obv. 5 and Obv. 6) and the numbered reverses are all Davies type B. New obverse and reverse dies were also made for the issues without die numbers (Obv. 7 and Rev. C) and the stock of old obverse and reverse dies was also used to produce shillings without die numbered reverses. A complete set of known die numbers is presented, with enlarged photographs, along with examples of all known types of the 1879 shillings without die numbers.

The year 1878 is the penultimate for which die numbers were used on the shillings and it is clear that the process of adding the numbers was becoming less precise. Several of the die numbers are very weakly entered on the die, and others have been entered two, three or more times. This date is characterised by the use of two different Obverses (P.J. Davies Obv. 5 and Obv. 6). These were not used in a simple sequence. A hybrid Obverse die has also been discovered, with characteristics of both of these Obverses, found exclusively with die number 53. To add further complexity, for die numbers 49-54, each die number is known on two or more distinct dies. An almost complete set of known die numbers, including the varieties, is presented with enlarged photographs.

For many years the topic of coin grading has vexed collectors, dealers and auctioneers alike. This short blog presents the British and Sheldon grading schemes and then illustrates a small group of Victorian young head coins. Readers are asked to grade them using the Sheldon system. The results can be compared with the ‘official grades’ as all of the pieces have been encapsulated or slabbed by third party graders – TPGs. A similar variability is seen when dealers and collectors grade the same coins.

The majority of contemporary counterfeit silver coins of Queen Victoria are cast in white metal. The alloy means that they do not survive well, wearing badly, often losing any plating they might have had and suffering from tin pest. This note presents four counterfeit shillings of 1865 that can be distinguished by their different die numbers. Three might be classed as pewter and the fourth as a tin-lead solder. A brief survey of other known counterfeit shillings bearing die numbers (1864-1879) is likely a significant underestimation of the number of counterfeiters who were copying coins of this period, probably active over the following few decades.

In a previous BNS Blog note the die numbered shillings of 1865 were used to validate the statistical methods used to predict the numbers of dies used for a coinage. The 78 different die numbers gathered there have now been supplemented to produce an almost complete set of die number images for 1865 presented here. Analysing the data for the shillings for the whole of the die number period, including Royal Mint annual reports, reveals a systematic year-on-year variation in the numbers of coins struck per die. The production data for the obverse and reverse dies track each other almost exactly over the whole period. This can only be the result of a variation in the die manufacturing process or Mint practices – “The Die Number Experiment”. The 1870 Royal Mint report cites changes in the die hardening process resulting in increased durability, the result is visible in the data. Further analysis of the data for other denominations and the

read more A Die Study of Victorian Shillings Dated 1865… Part 2 – The Die Numbers – Gary Oddie